Prior to a medical examination, surgical, or other medical appointment, a patient must typically register with a receptionist or other personnel of the doctor's office or hospital wherein the examination or surgical procedure will be performed. During the registration process, the patient may be required to supply or verify information related to his or her identity and/or medical history. The receptionist uses the information supplied by the patient to manually retrieve medical records physically stored at the doctor's office or hospital and/or stored on the doctor's office or hospital's network. The patient is typically required to provide any additional information required for the medical examination or surgical procedure.
The patient is also typically required to “sign-in” on a patient list, which is manually updated by the receptionist as patient examinations or surgical procedures are completed and patient rooms become available. Once a patient room is available for the new patient, the receptionist or other caregiver notifies the patient and manually transfers the retrieved medical records to the assigned patient room for the doctor's review.